Macaroni, No. i Break one quarter of a pound of macaroni into three-inch pieces, and put into three pints of boil- ing salted water. Boil twenty minutes, or until soft. Drain in a colander, and pour cold water through it to cleanse it and keep it from sticking. Cut into inch pieces. Lay the strips on a board, parallel to each other, and cut through them all at once. Put in a shallovtr baking-dish and cover 124 TRUE FOOD VALUES with a white sauce (see page — ). Add half a teaspoon of salt. Mix two-thirds of a cup of fine cracker crumbs with a third of a cup of mehed butter, and sprinkle over the top. Bake until the crumbs are brown. If cheese be Hked with it, use half a cup of grated Parmesan or any other dry cheese. Put part of it with the macaroni, and mix the remain- der with the crumbs. Macaroni, No. 2 Pour a white sauce over the macaroni, and serve the grated cheese on a separate dish. Macaroni, No. 3 Mix two hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, with the macaroni. Sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper, and add a httle prepared mustard, if you wish. Cover with milk and buttered crumbs, and bake until the crumbs are brown. Spaghetti This is a variety of macaroni, only very much smaller in diameter. It is cooked the same as the ordinary macaroni, and served the same with cream or tomato sauce, cheese, and crumbs. Spaghetti may be served without cutting, if one AND THEIR LOW COSTS 125 is skilled in the art of winding it around the fork the same as the Italians do. Macaroni, if properly cooked, is certainly a very palatable dish, and is very nutritious. Where the cost of food is a question of importance to as many of us as it is at the present time, its use should be cultivated and appreciated. With the Italians it forms a large part of their daily sustenance, and when we take into con- sideration the great amount of hard, laborious work that is accomplished by this race in our country, we cannot doubt that their food, cheap though it may be, is remarkably sustaining. CHAPTER XXIV The Use of Sour Milk Almost any one can learn to use sour milk. It possesses a medicinal or therapeutic value for many, and the manufacturers of the various fer- ment milk products make the most of this quality in their extensive advertising. A favorite luncheon of the Bulgarian peasant consists of a dish of hot, boiled new potatoes, not mashed, but just well buttered and seasoned v^^ith a little black pepper and salt, and a glass or two of sour milk. The combination is really a good one, and, together with a vegetable salad and whole-wheat bread with sweet butter, forms a most wholesome and nutritious meal on a warm day. Some prefer the sour milk cream to the sweet cream on fruits, as bananas, strawberries, etc. It should be beaten up slightly after removing it from the sour milk. An easy way to make sour milk is to fill a quart bottle or jar, cork it, and set it away in a warm place until it "sets." In warm weather it wiH TRUE FOOD VALUES 127 require from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to sour. Then it should be set in a refrigerator or in a cool place until needed. Before using, pour the milk into a bowl and beat with an egg-beater until creamy. Prepared in this way it tastes very much Hke buttermilk. In the winter the making of sour milk may be hastened in the following manner : From a bottle of milk that has previously been soured, take two or three tablespoons and add it to the sweet milk before corking the jar. Then put it in a warm place, and in twenty-four hours it should be ready for use. If for any reason the sour milk is not used until it becomes strong and separates, it can be used in cooking or made into cottage or Dutch cheese.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Macaroni, No. i Break one quarter of a pound of macaroni into three-inch pieces, and put into three pints of boiling salted water. Boil twenty minutes, or until soft. Drain in a colander, and pour cold water through it to cleanse it and keep it from sticking. Cut into inch pieces. Lay the strips on a board, parallel to each other, and cut through them all at once. Put in a shallow baking-dish and cover with a white sauce (see page 000). Add half a teaspoon of salt. Mix two-thirds of a cup of fine cracker crumbs with a third of a cup of melted butter, and sprinkle over the top. Bake until the crumbs are brown. If cheese be liked with it, use half a cup of grated Parmesan or any other dry cheese. Put part of it with the macaroni, and mix the remainder with the crumbs. Macaroni, No. 2 Pour a white sauce over the macaroni, and serve the grated cheese on a separate dish. Macaroni, No. 3 Mix two hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, with the macaroni. Sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper, and add a little prepared mustard, if you wish. Cover with milk and buttered crumbs, and bake until the crumbs are brown. Spaghetti This is a variety of macaroni, only very much smaller in diameter. It is cooked the same as the ordinary macaroni, and served the same with cream or tomato sauce, cheese, and crumbs. Spaghetti may be served without cutting, if one is skilled in the art of winding it around the fork the same as the Italians do. Macaroni, if properly cooked, is certainly a very palatable dish, and is very nutritious. Where the cost of food is a question of importance to as many of us as it is at the present time, its use should be cultivated and appreciated. With the Italians it forms a large part of their daily sustenance, and when we take into consideration the great amount of hard, laborious work that is accomplished by this race in our country, we cannot doubt that their food, cheap though it may be, is remarkably sustaining. CHAPTER XXIV The Use of Sour Milk Almost any one can learn to use sour milk. It possesses a medicinal or therapeutic value for many, and the manufacturers of the various ferment milk products make the most of this quality in their extensive advertising. A favorite luncheon of the Bulgarian peasant consists of a dish of hot, boiled new potatoes, not mashed, but just well buttered and seasoned v^^ith a little black pepper and salt, and a glass or two of sour milk. The combination is really a good one, and, together with a vegetable salad and whole-wheat bread with sweet butter, forms a most wholesome and nutritious meal on a warm day. Some prefer the sour milk cream to the sweet cream on fruits, as bananas, strawberries, etc. It should be beaten up slightly after removing it from the sour milk. An easy way to make sour milk is to fill a quart bottle or jar, cork it, and set it away in a warm place until it "sets." In warm weather it wiH require from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to sour. Then it should be set in a refrigerator or in a cool place until needed. Before using, pour the milk into a bowl and beat with an egg-beater until creamy. Prepared in this way it tastes very much Hke buttermilk. In the winter the making of sour milk may be hastened in the following manner : From a bottle of milk that has previously been soured, take two or three tablespoons and add it to the sweet milk before corking the jar. Then put it in a warm place, and in twenty-four hours it should be ready for use. If for any reason the sour milk is not used until it becomes strong and separates, it can be used in cooking or made into cottage or Dutch cheese.

True food values and their low costs